Alien vs. Predator
|novels = |comics = List of comics |magazines = |strips = |films = ) (1990) * Alien vs. Predator (2004) * Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem (2007) * Predators ( ) (2010) }} |plays = |musicals = |games = Alien vs Predator: The Hunt Begins (Prodos) (2015) |vgs = List of video games |radio = |soundtracks = |music = |toys = |otherlabel1 = |otherdata1 = |otherlabel2 = |otherdata2 = |otherlabel3 = |otherdata3 = }} Alien vs. Predator (also known as Aliens vs. Predator, abbreviated AVP and stylized as ΛVP) is a science fiction franchise created by comic book writers Randy Stradley and Chris Warner. The series is a crossover between the Alien and Predator franchises. The franchise, which depicts the two species as being in conflict with one another, includes feature films, comics, novels, and computer/video games. There were also two live-action films produced, both critically panned yet being relative box office successes, and the development of a third film has been rumored over several years. History The first Alien vs. Predator story was published by Dark Horse Comics in Dark Horse Presents #34–36 (November 1989 – February 1990). In November 1990, Predator 2 was released in theaters, and includes a scene depicting an Alien / Xenomorph skull as one of the Predator's trophies. The first feature film was released in 2004, titled Alien vs. Predator. The second film in the series, titled Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem, was released in 2007. Additionally, in the 2010 film Predators, when the group of main protagonists enters the Predators' camp, there is a brief view of an Alien skull on the ground (as well as the lower jaw of an Alien on the helmet of the Berserker Predator), referring to the similar moment from Predator 2 when an Alien skull is seen in the trophy room of the Predator spaceship. Ellen Ripley does not appear in this franchise, as it takes place years prior to the events of the Alien series. Films ''Alien vs. Predator'' (2004) In 2004, a Predator mothership arrives in Earth orbit to draw humans to an ancient Predator training ground on Bouvetøya, an island about one thousand miles north of Antarctica. A buried pyramid giving off a "heat bloom" attracts a group of explorers led by Charles Bishop Weyland (Lance Henriksen), the original founder and CEO of Weyland Industries, who unknowingly activates an Alien egg production line as a hibernating Alien Queen is awakened within the pyramid. Three Predators descend unto the planet and enters the structure, killing all humans in their way with the intention of hunting the newly formed Aliens, while the scattered explorers are captured alive by Aliens and implanted with embryos. Two Predators die in the ensuing battle with an Alien, while the third allies itself with the lone surviving human, Alexa "Lex" Woods (Sanaa Lathan), while making their way out of the pyramid as it is destroyed by the Predator's wrist bomb and eventually does battle with the escaped Alien Queen on the surface. The Queen is defeated by being dragged down by a water tower into the dark depths of the frozen sea, but not before she fatally wounds the last Predator. The orbiting Predator mothership uncloaks and the crew retrieves the fallen Predator. A Predator elder gives Lex a spear as a sign of respect, and then departs. Once in orbit it is revealed that an Alien Chestburster was present within the corpse, thus a Predalien hybrid is born. ''Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem'' (2007) Set immediately after the events of the previous film, the Predalien hybrid aboard the Predator scout ship, having just separated from the mothership shown in the previous film, has grown to full adult size and sets about killing the Predators aboard the ship, causing it to crash in the small town of Gunnison, Colorado. The last surviving Predator activates a distress beacon containing a video recording of the Predalien, which is received by a veteran Predator on the Predator homeworld, who sets off towards Earth to "clean up" the infestation. When it arrives, the Predator tracks the Aliens into a section of the sewer below the town. He removes evidence of their presence as he moves along using a corrosive blue liquid and uses a laser net to try to contain the creatures, but the Aliens still manage to escape into the town above. The Predator fashions a plasma pistol from its remaining plasma caster and hunts Aliens all across town, accidentally cutting the power to the town in the process. During a confrontation with human survivors, the Predator loses its plasma pistol. The Predator then fights the Predalien singlehandedly, and the two mortally wound one another just as the US air force drops a tactical nuclear bomb on the town, incinerating both combatants along with the Predalien's warriors and hive, as well as the few remaining humans in the town. The salvaged plasma pistol is then taken to a Ms. Yutani of Yutani Corporation, foreshadowing an advancement in technology leading to the future events of previous Alien films. The film features many references to both the ''Alien'' franchise and the ''Predator'' franchise, including: a dressing gown reminiscent of Ellen Ripley's one from Aliens is worn by the main female protagonist at one point in the film, the gravestone of Hawkins, Shane Black's character from Predator, is visible at one point in the film; a character named "Dallas Howard" (after the character with the same name from Alien) says "Get to the chopper!" at one point in the film, a line previously uttered by Dutch (Arnold Schwarzenegger) in Predator. Future Colin and Greg Strause were adamant that they wanted to develop Alien vs. Predator 3 during the production of Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem. They essentially sought to make an AVP-film in space and set in the future, but by the time they were hired, 20th Century Fox had already decided to go with Salerno’s script set on Earth. They incorporated elements of their ideas into the second film, such as the Predator home planet. ADI duo Tom Woodruff and Alec Gillis were also contenders for the director’s chair. Having worked on the special effects in each movie since Aliens, Tom Woodruff revealed in April 2008 that he and Alec Gillis had aspirations to direct Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem themselves. In 2008, according to the horror news-website ShockTillYouDrop, “''An anonymous source over at 20th Century Fox got in touch with us over the weekend to relay the news another Aliens vs. Predator sequel is a ‘certainty’ at this point. If you recall, the brothers Strause – who helmed the Christmas release Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem – stated Fox was going to take a ‘wait-and-see’ approach to a third chapter, furthermore, that the story would have to continue in space.”Holtreman, Vic (March 10, 2008). "Oh, God. Aliens vs. Predator 3 Is Coming." ''ScreenRant.com. Retrieved April 22, 2016.Giles, Jeff (March 11, 2008). "Fox Brewing Alien vs. Predator 3?" RottenTomatoes.com. Flixster, Inc. Retrieved April 23, 2016.Stephenson, Hunter (March 10, 2008). "Sequel to Aliens Vs. Predator Requiem Going Ahead?" SlashFilm.com. /Film. Retrieved April 23, 2016. On September 21, 2008, Collider published an exclusive interview with John Davis (the producer of both AVP films) and he stated, "I think we’ve logically done what we could’ve done with the two AVP movies. But I think there’s something to go back to with Predator."Weintraub, Steve (September 21, 2008). "Producer John Davis Gives Updates on THE SIMS Movie, the Aliens vs. Predator Movies and Jason and the Argonauts!" Collider.com. Complex Media, Inc. Retrieved April 22, 2016. On October 28, 2010, io9 published an exclusive interview with the Strause-brothers in which they revealed that Alien vs. Predator 3 would have led directly into Alien. Greg Strause stated that, "The original ending for AVPR, that we pitched them, ended up on the alien homeward sic, and actually going from the Predator gun, that you see at the end, it was going to transition from that gun to a logo of a Weyland-Yutani spaceship that was heading to an alien planet. And then we were actually going to cut down to the surface the alien planet and you were going to see a hunt going on. It was going to be a whole tribe of predators going against this creature that we called "King Alien." It's this huge giant winged alien thing. And that was going to be the lead-in, to show that the fact that the Predator gun the end of AVPR is the impetus of all the technological advancements that allowed humans to travel in space. Which leads up to the Alien timeline." When asked about the ending sequence of Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem, that the Predator-weapon handed to Ms. Yutani would lead to us humans developing advanced space travel technology, Greg stated, "That was the idea. They never got any of the equipment from the first Predators. It's the first time they ever received any intact working technology left over. So they could take that and reverse engineer, figure out what the power source was – all of those things. And in theory, that would enable that company Weyland-Yutani to make massive advancements in technology and dominate the space industry. That was the whole idea, was to literally continue from Ms. Yutani getting the gun – and then cut to 50 years in the future, and there's spaceships now. We've made a quantum leap in space travel. That was going to set up the ending, which would then set up what AVP was going to be, which would take place 100 years in the future. That was kind of the plan."Woerner, Meredith (October 28, 2010). "The Third Aliens Vs. Predator Movie Would Have Served as a Prequel to Alien." io9.Gizmodo.com. Gawker Media. Retrieved April 23, 2016. In 2012, What Culture stated that "surely sometime in the near future we will see a third attempt at an AvP movie" and listed five major reasons that would make a third sequel work – namely the inclusion of Colonial Marines, a strong lead character, no Predators teaming-up with humans, memorable action sequences, as well as a great director.Markham, John (December 17, 2012). "5 Things Needed to Make a Good Alien Vs. Predator Movie." WhatCulture.com. What Culture Ltd. Retrieved April 23, 2016. In 2015, having worked on the special effects of Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem, VFX make-up artist David Woodruff (the son of Tom Woodruff who worked on both the Alien- and Terminator-franchises) participated in an interview with TheTerminatorFans, and when asked about the situation of a third chapter in the AVP-trilogy, he stated, "I haven’t heard anything about a 3rd installment, not even rumors. This Neill Blomkamp project is the first possibility I’ve seen or heard of another Alien film and I’m all about it. I know the guys at Amalgamated Dynamics are pushing for something like this too. It’s time." In 2015, during the London Film and Comic Con, Sigourney Weaver stated that she asked to have Ripley killed in Alien 3 because she knew that Fox were moving forward with Alien vs. Predator. Peter Briggs (writer of Alien vs. Predator) responded by praising all films in the franchise and pointing out that the AVP-films were more successful than Weaver's last two Alien-films, and noting that "There’s a terrific “Alien vs. Predator” movie still to be made by someone. It just hasn’t happened yet." In mid-2018, Shane Black, director of upcoming The Predator, believes that a third Alien vs. Predator can still happen.http://www.predator4-movie.com/news/shane-black-thinks-theres-hope-another-alien-vs-predator A ComicBookRumours.com article suggested Fox may attempt an "AvP Cinematic Universe" after Ridley Scott finishes making [[Alien: Covenant#Sequel|the Alien prequels]], after which Fox considered a "soft reboot" to the Alien series with new/original characters, a new setting, and new timeline, https://comicbookrumors.com/the-future-of-alien-and-versus-predator/ which the article suggested, if it were to happen, could potentially take place within the same continuity as the Predator films and AvP films, noting Predators featured an Alien skull cameo and The Predator underwent reshoots to have Lex's spear (along with other references) from the first AvP appear in the film at some point.https://comicbookrumors.com/the-future-of-alien-and-versus-predator/ Characters Key *A indicates the actor or actress lent only his or her voice for his or her film character. *A indicates a cameo appearance. *A dark gray cell indicates the character was not in the film. Crew Reception Box office performance Critical response Accolades ''Alien vs. Predator'' ''Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem'' Other media Comics * Dark Horse Presents (1986-2011) * Dark Horse Insider (1989-1997) * Aliens vs. Predator (1989 short story) * Aliens vs. Predator (1990) * Aliens (1991/1994 UK magazine) * Aliens vs. Predator (1991 short story) * Alien 3 Movie Special (1992) * Aliens vs. Predator 2 (1992-1993) * Dark Horse Comics (1992-1994) * Total Carnage (1993-1994) * Aliens vs. Predator: Deadliest of the Species (1993-1995) * Aliens/Predator: Deadliest of the Species (1993) * Aliens vs. Predator: Blood Time (1994) * Aliens vs. Predator: Duel (1995) * Aliens vs. Predator: War (1995) * Aliens vs. Predator: Booty (1996) * Dark Horse Classics - Aliens vs. Predator (1997) * Aliens vs. Predator: Eternal (1998) * Aliens vs. Predator: Annual #1 (1999) * Aliens vs. Predator: The Web (1999) * Overkill: Witchblade/Aliens/Darkness/Predator (1999) * Aliens vs. Predator: Xenogenesis (1999-2000) * Aliens vs. Predator/Witchblade/Darkness: Mindhunter (2000) * Aliens versus Predator versus The Terminator (2000) * Alien vs. Predator: Thrill of the Hunt (2004) * Alien vs. Predator: Whoever Wins... We Lose (2005) * Superman and Batman versus Aliens and Predator (2007) * Aliens vs. Predator Omnibus: Volume 1 (2007) * Aliens vs. Predator Omnibus: Volume 2 (2007) * Alien vs. Predator: Sand Trap (2007) * Aliens vs. Predator: Deadspace (2008) * Alien vs. Predator: Civilized Beasts (2008) * Alien vs. Predator: Three World War (2010) * Aliens vs. Predator: Special Collector's Edition (2010) * ''Alien vs. Predator: Fire and Stone (2014-2015) * Alien vs. Predator: Life and Death (2016-2017) * Predator vs. Judge Dredd vs. Aliens (2016-2017) Novels A novel series was produced based on the franchise. * Aliens vs. Predator: Prey (1994) by Steve Perry * Aliens vs. Predator: Hunter's Planet (1994) by Dave Bischoff * Aliens vs. Predator: War (1999) by S.D. Perry * Alien vs. Predator: The Movie Novelization (2004) by Marc Cerasini * The Complete Alien vs. Predator Omnibus – collects Prey, Hunter's Planet and War (Titan Books, November 2016, ) Books Other books depict the background to the film's work with Amalgamated Dynamics Incorporated (ADI), the special effects company that worked on the Alien films. * Alien vs. Predator: The Creature Effects of ADI (by Alec Gillis and Tom Woodruff, Jr., Design Studio Press, August 2004, ) * Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem – Inside the Monster Shop (by Alec Gillis and Tom Woodruff, Jr., Design Studio Press, December 2007, , Titan Books, January 2008, ) Video games An Alien vs. Predator arcade beat 'em up game was released by Capcom in 1994. Two other Alien vs Predator games were also published by Activision for the SNES and Game Boy in 1993. There were also several Alien vs. Predator mobile games, and two cancelled titles for the Atari Lynx and Game Boy Advance. In 1994, Atari Corporation released the Rebellion Developments-developed first-person shooter Alien vs Predator for the Atari Jaguar, in which one could play as a Marine, Predator or Alien. Rebellion then went on to develop the similarly themed 1999's Aliens versus Predator for the PC. This was followed by, among others, Aliens versus Predator 2 and the expansion pack Aliens versus Predator 2: Primal Hunt. In 2010, Sega released a reboot, Aliens vs. Predator, a multiplatform first-person shooter also made by Rebellion. Both Alien and Predator appear as downloadable characters in Mortal Kombat X. Action figures In 1994, Kenner released a collection of action figures known as Aliens vs. Predator. This followed the two initial series of Aliens that were based on an animated series, Operation: Aliens, that was never broadcast. As such, the inclusion of Predator is often considered the 3rd and 4th series of the Aliens line. This collection includes several Aliens, many of which feature built-in attack features, and Predators, which include removable masks and battle weapons such as spears and missile launchers. The figures generally possess 5 points of articulation, and some include a mini Dark Horse comic book. While the collection as a whole is known as Aliens vs. Predator, the two character types have their own card art that only features the character at hand. An exception would be the Aliens vs. Predator 2-pack. Since human space marines were included in the initial Aliens line, the Predator was marketed as an alternative enemy to the Aliens. A figure cardback reads: : "The stage is set for the universe's two most ferocious enemies. It's the gruesome and evil Aliens against the big-game hunter Predator. Who will win... the beast or the hunter? Can the Predator stop the evil Aliens before the galaxy is destroyed?!?!?!"Duke Nostalgia's Predators Page DukeNostalgia.com. Retrieved February 9, 2008.[http://forumplanet.gamespy.com/community/b49024/19642521/p1/?4 Classic Aliens vs Predator Nostalgia] ForumPlanet.GameSpy.com (January 5, 2008). Retrieved February 9, 2008. The Aliens: Hive Wars series was released in 1995, which included various Aliens, Predators, and larger scaled space marines. More figures, including a female Predator and an Alien/Predator/Smash Mason 3-pack, were designed for this series but never released as part of the line. Six sets of Aliens and Predator Micro Machines were also planned by Galoob in 1995 but never released. This would have also included the LV-426/Outer World Station Action Fleet Playset. Thanks in part to the research of toy collectors, many photos of these unreleased toys and prototypes have shown up on the Web in recent years.Cawiezel, Marc H. [http://members.aol.com/earlvira/alienpredatortoys.htm The History of Unproduced Alien and Predator Toys] Members.AOL.com (October 29, 2006). Retrieved February 9, 2008. In December 2002, McFarlane Toys released a highly detailed Alien vs. Predator deluxe set.Crawford, Michael Alien vs. Predator MWCToys.com (December 13, 2002). Retrieved February 9, 2008. In 2004, they produced a series of figures based on the Alien vs. Predator film. Alongside the articulated figures, McFarlane also released statuesque display sets depicting scenes from the film. Hot Toys produced highly detailed 16" tall figures for every film including Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem in 2007. That same year, NECA released two series of Requiem figures.Alien Attacks Predator CollectionDX.com (January 12, 2008). Retrieved February 9, 2008. Theme park attractions On August 4, 2014, Universal Studios confirmed that there will be haunted mazes based on Alien vs. Predator for their Halloween Horror Nights events at both Universal Studios Hollywood and Universal Studios Florida. Boardgame In 2013 Prodos obtained the license from FOX to do a Boardgame and successfully funded it on Kickstarter. References Further reading * Beautiful Monsters: The Unofficial and Unauthorised Guide to the Alien and Predator Films (by David A. McIntee, Telos, 272 pages, 2005, ) External links * * Category:Media franchises introduced in 1989 Category:Film series introduced in 2004 * Category:20th Century Fox franchises Category:Crossover fiction Category:Action films by series Category:Horror films by series Category:Science fiction films by series Category:Science fiction horror film series Category:American comics adapted into films